Older people living in less advantaged neighborhoods become disabled roughly two years earlier than their counterparts in more affluent neighborhoods, according to a new Yale study. The findings, published Aug. 23 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, shed new light on the role environment plays in the disabling process. The data also point to a […]
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Obesity a big risk factor for severe COVID-19, study confirms
(HealthDay)—Yet another study confirms what doctors have long known: Being obese greatly raises the odds that if you contract COVID-19, your case could be a severe one. The study, from researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, supports calls for obese Americans to move to the head of the line for protective […]
Researchers find sex is not an independent risk factor for stroke mortality
An analysis of data collected from patients treated for ischemic stroke at Geisinger shows no disparity in outcomes based solely on sex. Various studies have suggested that women are disproportionately affected by stroke and may have poorer stroke outcomes. Women have a longer life expectancy than men and, therefore, likely have an increased lifetime risk […]
Higher body temperatures still a factor in patients in remission from rheumatoid arthritis
A pioneering study carried out among patients in remission from Rheumatoid Arthritis has determined that they display significantly higher temperatures than healthy individuals. The work, published in PLOSONE and undertaken by University of Malta and Staffordshire University, compares thermographic patterns of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in remission with healthy individuals. More than 31 RA […]
Von Willebrand factor antigen for assessing the urgency of a liver transplant
Like most other countries, Austria—as part of the Eurotransplant organization—allocates organs to patients on the liver transplant waiting list on the basis of medical urgency. Currently, patients are listed according to urgency using a score made up of three laboratory parameters—the Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score. However, the MELD score has obvious […]
Team plucks needle from genomic haystack, finding essential transcription factor binding sites
Using CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screens a multi-institutional research team systematically interrogated the essentiality of more than 10,000 forkhead box protein A1 (FOXA1) and CTCF binding sites in breast and prostate cancer cells, plucking useful needles from a massive genomic haystack that contains millions of transcription factor binding sites. They found that essential FOXA1 binding sites act […]
Interferon regulatory factor six mutations implicated in neural tube defects, including spina bifida
Mutations in a gene known as interferon regulatory factor 6 (IRF6) that cause cleft lip and palate also are implicated in neural tube defects such as spina bifida, suggests research by an international study team published online Jan. 25, 2019, in Human Molecular Genetics. In the first weeks of fetal development the neural plate curves, […]
Diabetes-inducing blood vessel damage could be prevented by a growth factor, study finds
Scientists have identified a growth factor found in the kidneys that could minimise the diabetes-inducing effects of blood vessel damage. The findings come in the wake of recent data from Diabetes UK which revealed that almost 4.6 million people nationwide have either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Coupled with the recent NHS announcement that […]
Researchers uncover previously unknown dementia, Alzheimer’s risk factor
New research from USC has uncovered a previously unknown genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The study provides insights on how these conditions, and other diseases of aging, might one day be treated and prevented. The research from the Cohen Lab at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology sheds new light […]